Featuring fresh and classic recordings, including a new essay and an interview exclusive to the audiobook. Agent: Cristina Concepcion, Don Congdon Assoc. David Sedaris’s best stories and essays, spanning his remarkable careeras selected and read by the author himself. He is the master of satire and one of today’s most observant writers addressing the human condition, especially apparent in his latest book, a collection of his diaries entitled Theft By Finding: Diaries (1977-2002) (May 2017). This is the perfect introduction for the uninitiated, while Sedaris’s fans will enjoy rediscovering old favorites. With sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, David Sedaris has become one of America’s pre-eminent humor writers. He can also be just plain hilarious, as in “Jesus Shaves,” about a discussion of cultural differences using the limited vocabulary available to students in a beginner French class (“The rabbit of Easter. Sedaris can take even the most serious subject-such as his sister Tiffany’s suicide-and evoke both empathy and laughter. Whether searching for the perfect Paris apartment with his partner, Hugh, recalling long-ago family vacations, or describing his sister Amy’s freaky encounter with a psychic, Sedaris finds ample fodder for his keen satiric sense in his life and the lives of those around him. His book, The Best of Me is a collection of essays detailing his life through adolescence and adulthood. When it comes to satire and witty personal narratives, no one does it better than David, so expect this discussion to be full of the same as well.

Culled from his previously published volumes and magazine pieces, this work focuses on the dynamics among the six Sedaris siblings and their parents (“I might reinvent myself to strangers, but to this day, as far as my family is concerned, I’m still the one most likely to set your house on fire,” he admits). For November 2021, Jen and the club read David Sedaris’s The Best of Me. Sedaris’s brilliant knack for observational humor is on full display in this terrific retrospective essay collection (after Calypso).

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